NOPD to get help from State Police in wake of Bourbon Street shooting

When shots rang out on Bourbon Street early Sunday morning, crowds scrambled to escape the violence.

"It went to chaos," said Mike Patton, who was at a club with his girlfriend at the time. "Everyone started running different directions -- screaming, yelling."

Patton, who also works in the French Quarter, said he immediately fled the area.

"The first shot was fired, we took off after that. There was no looking back," he said.

The shooting, on the city's most famous street, left ten people injured. New Orleans Police confirm that some of them are tourists.

Two visitors from San Jose, CA, Stormy Archie and Jennifer Black, heard warnings as they were departing for New Orleans.

"The way I heard about it was getting texts from my friends from California because they heard about it before I did. So, I was a little concerned and I got a little nervous," Archie said.

"All of our friends said there was a shooting and they were calling us, saying, 'maybe you guys shouldn't go down,'" Black said.

They decided to continue with their trip, but say they are concerned.

"We were asking some of the workers [in the French Quarter] if it was safe," Black said.

With the big Fourth of July and Essence Fest weekend looming, the NOPD is getting some help with manpower.

Beginning Monday night, state police are deploying extra patrols that will continue through the weekend and, possibly, the entire summer.

"[Patrols] will be based on where [NOPD Supt. Ronal Serpas] and his staff need these additional deployments, so they could take place anywhere," said LA State Police Supt. Mike Edmonson. "Short term goal -- we'll look at some additional manpower patrols added to what we already do in the city, possibly through Labor Day."

But even with the heightened security, and safety concerns following Sunday's shooting, some say the situation won't affect their plans.

"It can happen anywhere, but you do need to pay more attention to what's going on around you," said Shawna Overmon, a visitor from Savannah, GA.